New Crew, New Rules
by verkisto
Summary: Jayne makes a change, but he doesn't yet know just how many more changes there are to come. Some Jayne/Kaylee but not Jaylee! Spoilers for TV and BDM.
1. New Recruit

"Hey! Open up!"

Jayne Cobb stood outside Serenity's closed cargo bay, a backpack hanging on his back, a duffel bag slung over his left shoulder, a large revolver strapped to his right thigh, and what looked like a mini-rocket launcher under his right arm.

The leader of his new gang, Reynolds, popped open the hatch in the ramp and took a good look right and left before closing the hatch again as he disappeared back inside. A moment later, Jayne heard a muffled, "Okay, Zoë, open 'er up!" and the ramp itself creaked and lowered on its hydraulic arms. Seemed like he was going to get the royal treatment. And about time, too. Things sure were looking up from when he'd gotten out of bed that morning.

Well, it wasn't exactly a welcoming committee offering tea and dumplings, what with the fact that that woman Zoë – first mate, if Jayne remembered correctly – was training a nice little piece on him and looking all serious and downright tasty.

The captain, Reynolds, spoke to him first. "Drop your bags there and put your weapons down on the ground. All of 'em. Nothin' personal, you understand."

Jayne knew the drill. He'd changed gangs lots of times. Sometimes because he'd been double-crossed and killed enough of them to make it not a gang anymore, sometimes because he'd double-crossed them. Stitch Hessian came to mind on that score. And sometimes, like this time, because the pickings were better than he could get by sticking with Marco. Maybe he could finally start moving up in the world, make some real money, maybe even get a tumble with that one that hadn't flinched a bit as she'd moved down the ramp about a foot behind the captain, covering him without him even having to tell her what to do, like they'd done it a million times before. Looked like she might be a hellcat in the sack.

It took a couple of minutes to pull everything out of all their hidey-holes – small pistols from his waistband and throwing daggers from his boots and a cattle prod from under his left armpit. Oh, and Binky from his back waistband, still in her hand-tooled leather sheath to protect the blade. He laid them all tenderly on the ground in front of his feet, lining them up like they were on display in a market fair.

"Is that everything?" asked the captain in a dubious tone of voice.

"Yeah, that's it," Jayne replied, not sure if they thought it was enough or too little.

When he bent over to collect his stuff again, the captain stopped him with a sharp, "Wait a minute. We're not done yet. Move about ten feet over thisaways and strip."

Jayne's annoyance started to show through on his face, but then he reconsidered. _I wouldn't trust me either_, he thought, and walked to his right the required distance while keeping his eye on the pretty lady with the scary rifle trained at his chest.

He took off his hat, tipped the inside towards the captain, and dropped it. Next, he slipped off his jacket and held it up to show them both sides, then dropped it to the ground. Then, his tee shirt. He kicked off his boots and tossed them to Reynolds so they could be inspected, and then he began to undo his belt.

His eyes caught a movement in the interior of the ship, and a languid grin split his face as two women neared the cargo bay opening. Figuring if they had come to see the show he might as well give them one, Jayne peeled down his pants and underwear and stepped out of them, turning them upside down and inside out, opening up the cargo pockets to show there was nothing in them, and took his sweet time about it too.

By the way she was dressed, the core world beauty was a Companion. Jayne had never had any truck with Companions. Looked like she might be a little too high falutin' for his tastes anyway, nose in the air and all. But the little one, well, she was just about the cutest morsel Jayne had seen in a long time, plump in all the right places and rosy as a peach. And she was taking a good, long look at him, too. Since she was wearing greasy overalls, Jayne figured she was the mechanic. He wondered for a moment how she was at handling men's engines.

Reynolds was saying something to him. He pulled his attention away from the tempting mechanic with an effort and said, "Come ag'in?"

"I said turn around," the captain repeated, "and keep your eyes where they belong."

_So it's gonna be like that_, Jayne thought as he turned around slowly, arms in the air. Hands off the goods. Well, they'd all see about that. At least these here girls could see for themselves what was on offer. Maybe it would help them make up their own minds.

Reynolds, satisfied that Jayne wasn't hiding any other weapons, tossed him back his boots and gestured to the ground. "Put 'em back on," he said, "but leave your things. I'm gonna look through your stuff and check it out. You can go with Zoë here and get somethin' to eat. Then we're goin' to take a little trip and pick up the merchandise. You might as well start earnin' your keep right away."

Jayne stooped down and picked up his clothes, pulling them back on. That Zoë woman lowered her weapon but didn't look to be lowering her guard anytime soon. Smart lady. And the other two, the Companion and the grease monkey, came down the ramp looking all friendly-like. The little one spoke first.

"Hi, I'm Kaylee," she said, bright as a button, "and this here's Inara."

Jayne, barely looking at the Companion, muttered, "Ma'am," noticing the flicker of – what? – disappointment? Oh, so she liked to be the main attraction. Well, she was going to have to get used to being disappointed, then, because Jayne was focusing all his attention on the Kaylee girl. Cute. Nice name too. Something from an outer border planet. Not soundin' all snooty.

Jayne hitched his pants up by the belt to set them comfortable again and smiled a very dazzling feral grin, the one that usually had all the women lining up for a go, and said, "Well, Miss Kaylee, it's a pleasure ta meetcha. I think somebody said somethin' about some food. Can you show me where?"

Kaylee rewarded him with a blush and a sweet smile and turned to lead him into the Firefly, leaving the Companion – oh, yeah, name of 'Nara – to fend for herself. Jayne figured the captain had her covered anyway, the way he was looking at her, so it wasn't any of his affair.

As they neared the ramp, Jayne could hear the captain behind him speaking to Zoë saying, "I believe that man is goin' to be trouble," followed by her calm response of, "Can't argue with that, sir."


	2. New Ship

Jayne resisted the urge to touch Kaylee's bottom as they walked up the ramp and into the Firefly. He felt a little proud of his self-restraint there, because she sure was twitching it around in a fetching way. He settled for fixing his eyes on the moving target and hoping she didn't turn around and catch him in the act. Not just yet, anyway.

Kaylee led him through the ship, pointing out things of interest on the way and giving him a running commentary.

"This here's the cargo bay, o' course," she said, giggling a bit because of the obviousness of her remark, "and through there, we got the infirmary even though we ain't got a doctor, and guest quarters and a lounge where folk can relax to read and such."

Jayne snorted a bit. Guessed he wouldn't be spending too much time in the lounge. Hoped he wouldn't be spending too much time in the infirmary, neither.

"And up to this level, we got the engine room over there."

She stopped and pointed, making sure that Jayne stopped too and had a good look, as though the engine was the most interesting thing on the whole ship. Jayne decided to act like he cared and he got the bright smile again along with a speculative look. That was a good sign.

They carried on to the mess and galley, which was all decorated fancy-like with flowers painted on the wall and yellow paint and strings of tiny lights. For a moment, it made Jayne think of home, and he figured this might end up being his favorite spot on the ship. He was willing to reserve judgment, though, until he had seen his quarters.

As if she were reading his mind, Kaylee turned around to face him and asked, "So do you want to have somethin' to eat or do you want to see your bunk first?"

"I guess I could see my bunk," he replied diffidently. He didn't want to appear too eager. They might think he owed them something more than he already did for his step up in the 'verse, might think he was grateful or something. He figured that Captain Reynolds was already planning to get more than a few days' good work out of him in return.

Kaylee bounced up the short staircase to the corridor housing the crew quarters. Once again, she stopped and pointed along ahead of them, explaining, "That there's the cockpit. Wash is our pilot. He's married to Zoë."

Well, there was a second one off his list. He made a mental note to make sure and visit the pilot before the day was out. He wanted to see what kind of man was man enough for a woman like the first mate. Must be some kind of _yángxìng ren_ to keep Zoë interested.

Kaylee had opened the hatch across from hers. He knew it was hers because it had a sign that read _Kaylee's Room_ with more flowers painted around it and a string of lights on the rim of the hatch. She sure was a cute little thing, all girly and such.

Jayne followed her down the ladder into a good-sized cabin with the standard fittings. This was even better than Jayne had imagined. But, again, he wasn't about to let on. Instead, he turned from side to side, hands on hips, and grunted.

"Do ya like it?" Kaylee chirped, beaming up at him, expecting him to agree because she was obviously head over heels for this ship and thought everybody else should be too.

"It's okay, I guess," Jayne replied, turning to face her.

He looked at her for a moment, standing there smiling at him. Truth is, she wasn't really smiling _at_ him, just turning her face in his direction. He suspected smiling like that was her natural way and anybody lucky enough to be around her got to feel the warmth of it.

Here, in this small space, he could almost taste the joy radiating off of her as it washed over his skin, and he reached up a hand and tucked the hair back behind her ear, suddenly feeling protective and not at all horny like he thought he would when he finally got her alone.

Kaylee blushed again at his touch and waited for a moment. Maybe she expected him to jump on her or something and Jayne was pretty sure if he had right then she wouldn't have said no. Instead, he got all noble and gentlemanly and stepped back a pace so she could go up the ladder ahead of him and lead him back into the mess where she got him sitting down at the table and went into the galley to prepare a quick lunch.

When Jayne had started eating, Kaylee sat down across from him and watched closely as he stuffed great forkfuls of some kind of casserole into his face. It was delicious. And since he knew it was probably made up of simulated soy meat and reconstituted potatoes and freeze-dried carrots and peas and gravy out of a tin, he enjoyed it even more. If she could do this with rations, imagine what the girl could do with real food. The grub here was going to be much better than he'd had in a long time. And Captain Reynolds had said he could have as much as he wanted whenever he wanted. At least that was Jayne's interpretation of "full run of the kitchen."

Jayne scooped up every last bit from his plate and swabbed it clean with real bread, the first he'd had since he couldn't remember when. Finally sitting back in his chair and rubbing his bulging stomach, he recalled that he was supposed to go and help move the cargo that he and Marco and the boys had tried to steal from Captain Reynolds earlier that morning.

He got up, scraping the chair back, and Kaylee got up too.

"I gotta go," he stated, real regret coloring his voice.

"You'll be back soon," Kaylee said confidently. "And then maybe we can see some more of the ship together."

As they turned to leave the mess, Kaylee suddenly remembered something. She grabbed Jayne's arm to stop him, giving him the pleasure of a third blush in less than an hour, and said, "Wait. I don't know your name."

"Cobb. Name's Jayne Cobb."

He waited for the usual comment about a girl's name. Instead, Kaylee lowered her voice and smiled only for him this time, more shy than glowing, and said, "Well, Jayne Cobb, welcome to _Serenity_."

* * *

_yángxìng ren_ – virile man


	3. New Job

Jayne walked down _Serenity's_ cargo hold ramp, pulling his hat up from his back where he had slung it around his neck and fixing it on his head. He walked over to where Reynolds and the first mate were standing next to his stuff. It was placed neatly on the ground, neater than he had left it, actually.

Looked like the captain had finished his inspection and put everything back into the duffel, going so far as to lay his smaller guns and unsheathed knives along the top of the bag so they wouldn't pick up any moisture from the ground. Right thoughtful, that.

Jayne bent over to start re-concealing the knives on his person when the captain stopped him with a light hand on the arm.

"You won't be needin' those just yet, I'm thinkin'," he said, a neutral look on his face.

"Why not? Ain't we goin' on a kinda job? Might need 'em." Jayne was puzzled. This didn't make no sense at all.

"Well, see, that's the thing," Reynolds replied, warming up to his explanation. "You're on probation."

"Probation? What's that?" Jayne asked, his brow furrowing now.

"It means for the first little while you do everything I say when I say it and don't give us any trouble until we see what you can do for us and whether you get to stay on my crew. And right now, we just need you for liftin'."

The captain turned away towards the old beat-up ground mule and flatbed trailer that somebody had brought out while Jayne had been inside the ship, leaving Zoë standing there giving the big man a doubtful look.

Jayne stood with his arms hanging limply at his sides thinking this development through. Zoë, watching his face contort in concentration as though the process of working out what the captain had said was somehow painful, rolled her eyes and turned away to go to the mule when Jayne opened his mouth again and asked, "This probation here, until you make up your mind, do I still get ta eat?"

Over her shoulder, using the kind of voice that someone might when explaining something to a particularly slow three-year-old, Zoë called out, "Yes, Jayne, you still get to eat."

Just then, a man he hadn't met yet came out of the Firefly and walked towards the mule, looking Jayne over with open curiosity in a not-unfriendly way. _Can't be the pilot_, Jayne thought, _too scrawny_.

He was taken aback, however, when the man approached Zoë, slipped an arm around her waist from behind and kissed her soundly when she whirled around at his touch. Jayne figured he was even more surprised that she had a look of unfettered sensual delight on her face that made him feel a bit like he was intruding on a very private moment. And also made his pants suddenly feel about a size too small.

Jayne looked at the ground until they had finished, raising his eyes when the pair approached and Zoë started the introductions.

"Husband," she said in a very proprietary way, "this is our new crewman, Jayne Cobb. Jayne, this is our pilot, Hoban Washburne."

As the two men shook hands, Jayne revised his estimation a bit. The pilot was a little on the small side and nowhere near intimidating, not in those stupid-looking clothes, anyway, but he had a firm grip and he looked Jayne straight in the eye, saying, "People usually call me Wash. Welcome aboard, Jayne."

He wasn't really that interested in Jayne, though. He turned right back to his wife, eager to embrace her again, and whispered into her ear. Jayne could just catch that he was telling her to be careful and come back safely and so on. _Must be newlyweds_, Jayne thought. Elsewise why would any self-respecting man act like that towards his woman? Oh, well, takes all kinds to make a 'verse.

When the two lovebirds had finished their little _tête-à-tête_, the captain instructed Jayne to get into the front passenger seat of the mule, "So's we can keep an eye on you," he said, with Zoë sitting in the back to cover him, if necessary, and providing the usual tail guard. Reynolds was going to drive.

They got underway and, after about fifteen minutes, veered off into a trail that would have been impossible to see if you didn't know what to look for. They came upon a small clearing where Jayne could make out a bit of a disturbance in the landscape which, again, if he hadn't been looking for it he probably would have missed it.

They got out of the mule and uncovered the goods, and the captain and Zoë stood to one side while Jayne hauled several small crates onto the mule's trailer. Seemed they really were going to make him work for his room and board after all.

Just as Jayne was putting the last crate onto the pile and securing it in place, he heard a faint rustle in the underbrush. He glanced around and noticed that Zoë and the captain were quietly conversing and hadn't picked up that anything was wrong. Casually turning and stooping to grab a large rock, which he then concealed behind himself, Jayne sauntered around the back of the mule and over in the direction of the noise to find his old bunkmate, name of Mackie, crouched down training a rifle on the pair of unsuspecting smugglers.

The ugly little man put a finger to his lips and whispered, "Cobb, help me out and we'll split it. Marco don't know I'm here."

Jayne nodded his assent and came closer, but as Mackie turned and raised himself up to begin his assault, Jayne produced the rock from behind his back and brought it down hard on the man's head, knocking him out cold.

When Reynolds and Zoë had rushed over to see what was happening, Jayne tossed the rock to one side, blood and bits of hair sticking to it, and commented to nobody in particular, "He never were too smart, that one. Ready to go?" then turned and headed towards the mule, leaving the captain and Zoë to gape at each other, completely dumbfounded.

* * *

Back at the ship, after Jayne had moved the crates off of the mule and stowed them in the corner the way the captain told him to, he turned to face his new boss and waited to see what was going to happen next.

Hitching his thumbs into his suspenders, the captain gave Jayne a different kind of appraising look this time and said, "You did a good job back there. I believe you just cut a few days off o' your probation," and he actually smiled, causing Jayne to look down at the decking, confused by the unaccustomed praise.

Turning to leave the cargo bay, the captain took a few steps, paused, and turned back towards his newest crew member.

"Oh, and, by the way, I'm still the captain, but if you like, you can call me Mal," and he spun around and continued on his way, leaving Jayne standing in the cargo bay trying to cope with what was for him a completely new kind of strange behavior: an offer of friendship.


	4. New Approach

With the unerring instincts of a tracker, Jayne made his way from the cargo bay to his new cabin. It really wasn't too hard. He just followed the smell of spices and baking bread until he got to the mess. That little girl Kaylee must have spent the whole afternoon cooking for their supper. As he negotiated _Serenity's_ staircases and catwalks and gangways, Jayne figured that he should find some way to exercise if he was going to be eating regular. Wouldn't do to get all fat and contented.

When he got to the galley, he was met by the sight of Kaylee, a light dusting of flour clinging to some engine grease smears on her face, humming happily as she plucked pieces of fresh _xiăoyuán miànbāo_ from a tray and arranged them in a large wicker basket.

"Oh, hey, Jayne! How did the crime go?" she called out from behind the counter.

"Okay," he grunted in return, continuing on his way.

Out of the corner of his eye, Jayne thought he saw Kaylee's face drop when he didn't pause to chat, and that was fine by him. _A man should always reel the good ones in slow, boy_, his pa used to tell him, _and that goes fer fish too_, he'd add, reaching down to ruffle Jayne's hair.

Jayne smiled at the memory and his pa's good advice and opened up the hatch to his cabin, dropping quickly down the ladder and throwing the light switch. Just after his boots hit the metal sheeting, he felt the Firefly shudder and lift off. He looked warily in the direction of the cockpit and paused for a couple of minutes, listening for any sounds that maybe shouldn't be there.

It was a smooth takeoff and acceleration. The vessel didn't even shake much after she left the ground, and when they broke the pull of gravity and got into space, the small noises of their atmospheric ascent disappeared entirely leaving only the faint sound of the churning engine. _That was some nice flyin'_, he thought with a smile.

Jayne picked up his duffel bag and backpack from the floor and laid them down on the bed. Must have been the pilot, Wash, who had brought them up, along with all his weapons. They had been carefully placed on the bunk, which looked like it had clean sheets and a warm blanket on it, and Jayne smiled to think he had landed in the middle of a crew that knew the value of good hardware.

_Day just keeps gettin' better an' better_, he thought happily as he spilled the contents of his bags onto the bed and started stowing his stuff away in drawers and cabinets. There wasn't much in the way of personal belongings, though, which served to underline for Jayne just how badly he had been doing with Marco.

For some reason, while he was putting his clothes away, he noticed as if for the first time that everything had holes, and some of his shirts, even though he had washed them recently and hadn't worn them yet, looked like they were filthy. Jayne didn't mind a bit of dirt, but in Marco's gang, he was considered a mite fussy. They had called him "sir" to rib him sometimes because he actually did wash his clothes when he got the chance and he liked to keep his hair and beard trimmed and made a point of taking a real bath in a tub of hot water at least twice a month. With soap.

Jayne had put on his newest tee shirt and changed his underwear and found the pants with the fewest holes before he had finished packing up that morning, so he really had nothing to be ashamed about, but with the generous share that Mal had promised him from this haul, he should be able to buy a couple of new things when they were planetside and he'd start tossing the worst of his old clothes as he got replacements.

Finishing up his domestic arrangements to his satisfaction, Jayne climbed the ladder again, and when he got back to the mess, Kaylee was gone but Mal was sitting at the table, a mug of steaming coffee in front of him. He looked up when Jayne came down the staircase.

"Coffee?" the captain asked, eyebrows raised.

"Don't mind if I do," Jayne replied, and when Mal got up to get a mug and poured from the percolator on the stove, bringing it back to set on the table, Jayne sat in the chair opposite and took a sip.

"That there's real good coffee," Jayne observed, smacking his lips.

"It's good _real_ coffee," Mal told him, a note of pride in his voice. "We get it as often as we can. It's my view that a good brew runs a ship better than a good engine."

"Don't let Miss Kaylee hear you say that," Jayne chuckled, and he drank again, noticing Mal's amusement over the rim of his cup.

The captain's face took on a faraway look for a moment, then he shifted in his seat to square his body to the table and leaned his forearms on the surface, lacing his fingers together. The atmosphere in the room had suddenly become a little more serious, and when Mal was sure he had Jayne's undivided attention, he spoke.

"I bet you're wonderin' why I didn't let you have your guns and such today."

"It crossed my mind," Jayne said, cautiously.

"Well," Mal said, leaning back and tipping onto the hind legs of his chair a bit as he folded his arms over his chest, "it's because I figured your old gang might try to come and get the loot, and I didn't want to give you the wherewithal to be turnin' on me."

"Oh, hey, Mal," Jayne protested.

"No, no, it's okay," the captain said. "You was real smart, knockin' him out like that. He musta found out where the stuff was and got there before us, though. I admit, I'm more than a little embarrassed that me and Zoë didn't spot him first."

"Weren't hard," Jayne said. "He were makin' enough noise to rouse the dead."

"Anyways, thanks, I'm grateful. And you take your guns and stuff along from now on. It'll feel real secure knowin' I have you and Zoë watchin' my back."

It was a good thing that the captain didn't expect an answer because, at that moment, Jayne was speechless. To cover his awkwardness, he took too large a mouthful of the hot coffee and puffed out his cheeks as it burned his tongue and the insides of his mouth while he waited for it to cool a bit before swallowing. He could feel his face turning red, but whether it was from the coffee or from the heat that had suddenly raced up his neck, he couldn't tell.

Nobody besides his ma had ever given Jayne credit for anything other than his physical size. One look at him and folk automatically assumed that he was just a big, stupid ape. Now, Jayne was the first to admit that he had never had an overabundance of schooling, but there were different kinds of schools in the 'verse, and his was out in the woods or on the plains or even in a whorehouse or a smoky bar on a rim world. He pretty much had a doctorate in survival. All he lacked was a diploma for it.

So Jayne wasn't used to hearing the words "thank you" or having the boss of a gang admit that he had messed up and Jayne had saved his bacon by being smart, no less. And that on the first day, too! Jayne might have thought Mal was a bit of a pansy if he hadn't recognized the steel in his eye and seen the way his crew looked to him. And here the man was saying thank you to Jayne Cobb and trusting him almost right off.

And the surprises weren't over yet. Zoë came into the room and nodded briefly at the men before going to get herself a cup of coffee. She sat down beside Mal, all serious-like again.

Mal turned his head in her direction and said, "Jayne goes armed."

Zoë merely nodded once more, accepting the captain's directive.

"So when we get to Laredo to drop off the goods, I thought we should have some kind of plan in place, because the contact seemed a mite on the slippery side to me and I want this to go smooth."

Then he looked Jayne straight in the eye and asked, "Do you have any suggestions?"

* * *

_xiăoyuán miànbāo_ - breadroll


	5. New Territory

As the three discussed how to handle the upcoming meet and transfer of illegal goods, Jayne began to forget his surprise and participated fully in the planning. The captain was very pleased with his input and Zoë even raised her eyebrows and gave him a reappraising look when he pointed out an aspect of the scenario that neither she nor Mal had thought of.

By the time they had finished running through all the possible things that could go wrong and figured out how to handle them, Kaylee was shooing them away from the table so she could set it for supper. As they stood and turned to leave, the little mechanic ran around the table to block Jayne's retreat, a stack of mismatched plates clutched tightly to her chest.

"I hope you're hungry, Jayne," she said, coming up so close that they were almost touching, "'cuz I made lots."

Jayne swayed towards her a bit and began to reach out to chuck her under the chin when he noticed Mal and Zoë standing on the other side of the table glowering at him. He changed directions with his hand and shoved it quickly into a pocket. Clearing his throat nervously, he took a step back and said gruffly, "I'm always hungry, girl," before turning abruptly to go to his cabin.

_Gorramit_, he thought as he stepped down the ladder, _how'm I gonna get that little filly inta my bed if I get the hairy eyeball when I try ta make a move? Seems like she's willin' enough_.

He decided to take his mind off of the problem by figuring out how to stow his weapons in the cabin, finally lighting upon the idea of putting hooks up on the decorative cross-hatching over his bunk and maybe covering it with a cloth. He could slip the knives into small spaces here and there and put Binky where he could easily grab her while he was lying down.

When he climbed up the ladder again, the mess was buzzing with the talk of the rest of the crew and warm, rich smells assailed his nostrils as he came down the stairs.

"You set right here, Jayne," Kaylee directed, pulling out the chair that he had been sitting in previously.

He grunted without looking at her and sat down, hunching over the table. Apparently ignoring Kaylee was just as much a mistake as paying her too much attention, and he caught the annoyed looks of everyone around him, everyone, that is, except Kaylee, who looked like she was going to start crying any second now.

He turned around, gritting his teeth against the anger that surged through his chest. _How in the hell'm I supposed to know what the rules are?_ he thought, giving Kaylee a nasty glare. She jumped back a bit at the intensity of his expression, no longer sad-looking but scared.

In a low voice, he ground out, "Sorry, Miss Kaylee, didn't mean ta be rude. Thanks an' all," and turned back to look at his plate so he wouldn't have to see the reactions of the other people in the room.

His perfunctory apology seemed to be good enough for the rest of them, especially Kaylee, who turned the smile on again and began to serve Jayne a giant helping of the food, which was a variation on what he had eaten for lunch, apparently. Everyone else was required to help themselves and Zoë prepared an extra plate for Wash, who was delayed doing some piloty things.

Jayne waited quietly as he watched the serving utensils flash in front of his face. _How did they do that?_ he thought. _I don't never apologize ta nobody, 'ceptin' maybe my ma. And only then when she was holdin' that big wood spoon._

It was a mystery. Jayne had never gone through so many emotions in a day and it was beginning to weary him. He was starting to figure it was easier to cope with a bullet hole in the leg, because at least there a body knew where he stood, when Kaylee's chipper voice caught his attention.

"Well, ain't ya gonna try it? I made it special for yer first supper with us an' all," she stated.

Figuring it was better to overdo it than not, Jayne blurted out, "Sorry, Miss Kaylee," picked up his fork, and began to eat. After the first mouthful, he forgot about his anger. This tasted even better than lunch and Kaylee hadn't stinted on the serving. He noticed she had also given him an extra breadroll right off the top, and he leaned over close to his plate, shoveling it in with a machine-like rhythm.

He was about halfway through the pile of food when he realized they had all stopped talking, and he looked around, cheeks stuffed and another forkful raised in readiness, to see several pairs of eyes on him. Kaylee looked proud to bursting, Mal looked amused, Zoë looked – well, he wasn't sure, but maybe like she was observing some kind of interesting animal in a zoo, and Wash, who was standing at the top of the stairs and had obviously been watching him for a bit, looked amazed. But Inara, the Companion, looked faintly disgusted, like she had something nasty under her nose.

Wash broke the awkward silence first. "Please tell me you saved some food before Jayne started eating," he said in a comically pleading voice as he came across the room to sit by his wife.

Zoë presented Wash the plate of food she had prepared for him and merely said, "Yes, dear."

She must have decided that it wasn't a joking matter, and for that, Jayne was grateful. He nodded slightly in her direction and she blinked her eyes at him in acceptance of his gratitude. When everyone resumed their eating and conversation, Jayne slowed down a bit and tried to remember the manners his ma had tried to teach him. But he still ate every scrap.

* * *

After the meal was over and the dishes were cleared away and washed, they moved to the sitting room area just off the mess. Inara had gone back to her shuttle and Wash and Zoë had both retired to the cockpit to spend the evening alone. That left Jayne with Mal and Kaylee.

Jayne and Mal chatted about guns and such and what was the best kind of approach with three hands – now that they had three hands – if you had to meet somebody in a bar or on a street or in a building, while Kaylee, curled up on the other end of the couch from Jayne and hugging a pillow tightly to her middle, gazed dreamily at the big man with liquid brown calf eyes. It was starting to make him squirm a bit, and he was relieved when Mal went to the galley and came back with a paper that had been tacked to the wall there.

"This here's the job rota," he said by way of explanation, handing Jayne the list. "Everybody on the crew pitches in and looks after the things that need lookin' after regular. I'll re-draw a new one and put your name on."

Jayne handed the list back. Seemed pretty straightforward and a much fairer way to handle it than he had seen before. "Yeah, sure," he said, "but I gotta tell ya, I ain't no cook."

"Well, then I guess you'll be learnin' somethin' new," Mal replied with a grin.

"It ain't hard," Kaylee piped up from behind her pillow, "I can teach ya."

"There you go, then," Mal said. "Might as well start with breakfast tomorra. It's usually just coffee and porridge unless we got real food, and since we ain't got real food, well, I guess tomorra's just coffee and porridge."

With that settled, Mal left to go on his usual last check of the ship before retiring, leaving Jayne and Kaylee alone on the couch.

Jayne, thinking it might be the perfect time to get a few things out in the open, turned to her and said, "Girl, this bein' a new place fer me an' all, I gotta ask ya straight out, do ya like me?"

Kaylee was definitely not fazed by this direct question. "O' course I like ya, Jayne. Ya ain't one bit like all the boys I been with afore. You're a real man."

Jayne was taken aback by this information. Did she mean what he thought she meant? Only the way the captain and the others carried on, Jayne had figured Kaylee was, if not a virgin, then not very experienced. Now she was talking about boys, plural, maybe even lots of them.

"When you say 'all the boys,' Miss Kaylee, do you mean ta say they was sexin' you?" he asked, truly curious.

"I mean ta say," Kaylee replied, and leaned towards Jayne, kissing him on the mouth and doing a damn fine job of it too.

This was a bit too much, even for Jayne. He grabbed her by the shoulders and pulled back, searching her face. Here he was feeling protective again and this girl was literally throwing herself at him. It really was the last straw at the end of a long, confusing day, and Jayne stood up abruptly and fled, almost causing Kaylee to fall off of the couch.

He reached his cabin and dropped down the ladder, flicking on the light switch. When he turned around, he noticed there was something on his pillow. It was a piece of paper folded over with what looked like some kind of candy on top. When he inspected more closely, he discovered it was a fancy core-type chocolate shaped like a heart and wrapped in shiny red foil. And when he opened the paper under it, he saw childlike handwriting surrounded by little flowers. The makeshift card read _A sweet for a sweetie_, and Jayne crumpled it up quickly and tossed it into the corner as if it had burned his hand. He tossed the chocolate as well, then stripped off, climbing under the covers and turning out the light by a connected switch on the wall near his bunk.

As he lay there in the dark staring at the ceiling, he thought, _What on all the gorram planets in all the gorram systems have I got myself into?_


	6. New Orders

Early the next morning, Jayne awoke, his difficulties no more resolved than they had been the night before. He got up from his bunk and relieved himself at the head, washing his hands afterwards and splashing water on his face. Looking in the mirror over the sink, he noticed that his eyes were a little puffy around the bottom lids and starting to discolor, probably from all the unaccustomed worrying.

_I ain't never lost sleep over a woman before_, he thought, _'specially not just a little slip of a thing like that one_, and he turned away to dry his face and hands, heaving a great sigh as he did so.

When he had picked up the previous day's clothes from the floor and dressed again, he climbed the ladder and turned towards the galley. Kaylee was there ahead of him and had set out everything they would need to prepare breakfast. She was busy fussing around in the galley double-checking that it was all there when Jayne quietly came up close behind her.

Kaylee whirled around, her face flushed with excitement at the sight of him, and squeaked a bit in surprise.

"'Mornin', Jayne," she laughed, "didja sleep okay?"

He grunted something unintelligible and was about to turn around to see what was on the counter when Kaylee placed her palm on the middle of his chest, almost searing him with the contact, and asked, looking up at him shyly with eyes half-closed, "Didja like my present?"

"S'okay," he replied, unable to get out anything more. Truth be told, he'd liked it too much. No female had ever given him a love token before, and as he had lain in his bed, he pushed the idea of it away because it scared him so, the thought that he might want this sweet little girl for more than an occasional grapple. And what really terrified him is that she might want him too.

The next thing he knew, Kaylee had gone up on her toes and flung her arms around his neck, forced his head down to hers and was kissing him again. And it wasn't any chaste peck either. It was a kiss designed to inflame the blood and confuse the brain, and Jayne groaned as his defenses were toppled and he crushed her to him. This was what he wanted, wasn't it? It didn't seem to matter to Kaylee what he wanted at that point, however, because she was obviously intent on taking what she wanted whether Jayne objected or not.

Jayne knew that Kaylee could feel the moment he gave in as his response began to press up against her belly, and he was on the point of scooping her into the air and sweeping her off to his cabin to finish what she had started when a sound began to impinge on his consciousness. It was the sound of a throat clearing loudly and more than once.

Dazed, Jayne broke the kiss and looked around. The captain and Zoë were standing at the head of the stairs, Zoë's expression stern and Mal's expression furious.

"Jayne, Zoë, cargo bay, now!" Mal spat out through clenched teeth.

As the captain spun around on his heel and marched away, Zoë, brows lowered, folded her arms in front of her chest and waited for Jayne to unhook Kaylee from around his neck and precede the first mate through the door. Kaylee, a bit disoriented from the kiss, took a moment to recover her wits and followed after at a quick trot, calling out, "Cap'n! Zoë! Wait! Jayne!"

When Jayne got to the cargo bay, Zoë following close behind him, Mal was already standing there, his fury barely checked. His eyes were hard and flinty, and Jayne wouldn't have been surprised to see steam coming out of his ears. And when Jayne opened his mouth to explain, Mal shouted out, "No! You just listen ta me! That there little girl ain't ta be trifled with. I took you on 'cuz I figured you would be useful to my operation. I can see now that might've been a mistake!"

Jayne would have preferred if his voice didn't sound quite so whiny but there was nothing he could do about it after the words were out. "C'mon, Mal," he pleaded, "it weren't me. Miss Kaylee, she's been usin' her feminine wiles on me!"

"You really expect me to believe that?" Mal countered. "That sweet, innocent girl who brightens up everybody's day on this ship? You think she'd want someone like you? You just keep your hands offa her from now on!"

At that moment, Kaylee ran onto the catwalk over the cargo bay. Inara, attracted by all the commotion, came out of her shuttle and hurried to the distressed girl, putting her arms out and holding tight when the mechanic sped into them, sobbing.

Jayne stood stock still. There it was, plain as day. They were being all nice to him and everything but it had just been a surface regard. They didn't really mean any of it. To them, Jayne was just the muscle, the big ape, too dumb and coarse to fit into polite society. Turns out the high-priced whore had been the only honest one in the bunch. Well, if all they saw was an animal, then he could be an animal. His hands were itching to curl around Mal's throat, and he flexed his fingers slowly at his sides.

Zoë noticed the change in Jayne right away and reached a hand out to place it on the captain's shoulder. "Sir," she said, and he turned his head and scowled at her for the interruption. The gesture served to defuse the situation, however, and Mal backed down physically if not emotionally.

"_Nĭ yào zhào wŏ shuōde qùzuò, dŏng ma_?" the captain shouted into Jayne's face before turning away, Zoë moving to follow behind him again.

Jayne could hear Zoë's calm, level voice as they disappeared through the door. "Sir, I don't think this is entirely Jayne's fault."

"Not his fault?" Mal boomed back.

"Sir, Kaylee ain't exactly a child, like you seem to think..." and Zoë's voice was lost in the distance.

Jayne took a few deep breaths in and out through his nostrils to try to bring his temper back down to something resembling human. He could hear Kaylee's heartbroken sobs and Inara's soothing, "Shhh, _mèimei_, shhh," from overhead. Without looking up, he turned and exited through the infirmary and passenger dorm area so he wouldn't have to pass near Kaylee to get to his cabin.

When he got back there, he paced the small room back and forth, back and forth, like a caged tiger. Didn't do, opening yourself up to folk. Never worked. Jayne already knew that. Learned it early on. And he had forgotten it because a woman bewitched him with her big brown eyes and shapely backside and heartwarming smile. And just a young thing, too. No matter how many boys she said she'd been with, that girl was still as fresh as new-mown hay, the kind of woman that could give a man peace and happiness in this life.

Jayne stopped pacing, suddenly struck by this new thought. Was that what this was all about? Was he thinking ahead to when he couldn't make a living intimidating people and beating them up and shooting them into submission? And did this hankering for a new kind of life in his twilight years include the possibility of love?

He rushed over to the corner and dropped down to his hands and knees, searching for the chocolate and the piece of crumpled paper. Finding them and hurrying over to the table and chair near the ladder in his cabin, he sat down and placed the chocolate right side up on the surface and began to carefully smooth the paper out with his big, blunt and calloused fingers.

_A sweet for a sweetie_, he read again, then picked up the chocolate and turned it around to look at it. There was a dent in one side where it had hit a metal strut in the wall before bouncing to the floor. It seemed symbolic, somehow. Kaylee had given him her heart and Jayne, clumsy, unmannered oaf that he was, had damaged it.

He sat quietly for a moment gazing at the candy and the piece of paper and finally came to a decision. What Jayne Cobb wanted wasn't worth any less than what anybody else had a right to in this 'verse. If other people thought he was lower than them, well, that was their opinion. He'd reach for the peace and happiness and love and gladly take whatever joy Kaylee was willing to offer him now, aboard this ship, and later too, come what may.

But he was going to have to be clever about it. Jayne knew it wouldn't do to go against the captain. He needed the work and, when all was said and done, the man had seen some worth in him, at least as far as it came to the smuggling end of the operation. Mal would realize that again once he calmed down. If Jayne played his cards right, this would all blow over, and when he had strengthened his position in the crew and filled up his purse, he could try again with Kaylee, openly and without shame.

Jayne, happy with his new plan, leaned back in the chair, a wistful expression on his face, and thought about how nice it had felt to hold Kaylee close and really kiss her, like pressing molten sunshine to his chest. After a moment, he scraped the chair back and climbed up the ladder again, prepared to face whatever happened next.

* * *

_nĭ yào zhào wŏ shuōde qùzuò_ – you are to do what I tell you

_dŏng ma_?_ – understand?_

_mèimei – younger sister_


	7. New Ally

Coming out of his cabin for a second try at his second day with the new crew, Jayne was relieved to find just Wash and Zoë in the galley. The first mate was fixing her husband up with a mug of fresh coffee and a bowl of porridge to take to the cockpit so he could have his breakfast while he monitored the planetary approach and made the landing on Laredo.

Their quiet conversation stopped abruptly when he appeared at the top of the stairs, and Jayne guessed that they had been discussing the events of that morning. He knew for sure they had been when Wash's amused twinkle turned to a frown as he looked Jayne up and down before giving his wife one last peck on the cheek and turning to go back to his post.

Zoë poured a cup of coffee and handed it to Jayne, along with a second bowl of porridge like the one she had just given to Wash. He took the proffered items along with a spoon and sat down at the table, fully expecting Zoë to leave him to his meal. Seemed he was going to be the ship's pariah. For a while, anyway.

Instead, she poured a mug for herself and sat opposite him, carefully considering what she was going to say before opening her mouth.

"He's a good man, you know, the captain."

Jayne grunted a bit between spoonfuls.

"He's just tryin' to protect what's ours – what's his," she explained in that level, soothing voice of hers.

Jayne relaxed his shoulders. Seemed as though, even if Zoë wasn't exactly on his side, she was willing to mediate.

"And he thinks I'm a threat, is that it?" he asked her.

"Appears so," she replied. After pausing for a couple of heartbeats, she continued. "Are you?"

Now, this kind of palaver Jayne could understand. Someone talking at him direct.

"I'm just here to do my job," he said around a mouthful of porridge.

"Now, I don't mean to be nosy," Zoë observed with a twinkle in her eye and a quirk to her mouth, "but to my recollection, part of your job ain't servicin' the womenfolk on this ship."

Jayne stopped eating for a moment and looked at the woman across from him. He sighed. How could he tell her what had really happened without revealing himself, his plans, his dreams?

"Let's just say I figgered it'd be a side benefit," he finally stated.

"Uh-huh," Zoë said in a way that clearly meant _I don't believe you but I'm letting you get away with it this time_.

Jayne squirmed in his chair a bit and frowned. "Why'd Mal get so upset?" he asked. "Ain't like Kaylee is kin." A sudden realization struck him. "She ain't kin, is she?"

Zoë smiled and took a sip of her coffee before answering. "None of us are blood relations," she said, "but we're all family on this boat. You can understand that, can't you, Jayne?"

"I think so," Jayne replied, dubiously. "You and the captain, you fought with the Independents, right?"

"Sure did," Zoë answered.

"So I get why you and him's so close and all even if you're married to some other feller," Jayne said. "But a man that pertecs other people like that, even if they don't want his pertection, well, why is he so afraid of losing you all?"

Zoë sat back at this piercing observation and coolly regarded the man sitting across from her. Mal had been right in taking him on. Now if only Mal could see that.

"This ship, name of _Serenity_?" she said.

"Yep, like the Battle of Serenity Valley, right?"

"The same. Mal lost almost everything he had there. Doesn't want to go through it again. And if you tell him I told you that, I'll rip off your arm and use the ragged end to dust the furniture."

Jayne grinned and Zoë smiled back, a new understanding flowing between them.

"Tell him what?" he joked, digging into his porridge again.

"Good, glad we're straight on that one," Zoë said as she stood and turned back to the galley. "Now, there're two fresh eggs left over from yesterday and I can fry 'em up for you with some leftover bread, if you want."

Jayne knew that this was not only a peace offering but also Zoë's way of telling him that she didn't agree with what Mal had done even if nobody was ever going to hear her say it, and he nodded eagerly as he spooned the last mouthful of porridge out of the bowl. "I'd be obliged," he said.

"And if you tell Wash I cooked extra for you, you'll lose the other arm," Zoë deadpanned as she pulled a frying pan down from its hook on the wall.

* * *

After Wash had completed a feather-light landing, Mal and Zoë and Jayne – loaded up with his guns and knives this time – set off in the mule to negotiate the transfer of goods and payment for their work. They pulled into the wagon yard behind the town's main square, as arranged, and were greeted by an older man with a greedy glint in his eye. There were no gunhands visible, but that didn't mean they weren't there, and Jayne darted his eyes around the ground level and along the rooftops before taking up a position flanking Mal, just slightly behind and to his right, while Zoë took up the left-hand position.

The contact's demeanor changed as he sized up the giant standing there, one hand on a rather large revolver at his hip and a look on his face as though he'd like nothing better than to kill somebody just for fun. The man became so scared his knees were visibly shaking by the time he handed over the full amount agreed to, which was twice what he had intended to pay. He even threw in a piece of paper with information about a new job contact before he ran out of the square, leaving the three smugglers on their own.

"Well, Jayne," said Mal, a self-satisfied smirk on his face, "I guess you get to unload again. Only Zoë and I'll help this time. No use hanging around longer than we have to."

The three of them made quick work of the unloading and they were soon seated on the mule and on their way back to _Serenity_. As they pulled around the corner onto the main street, Jayne called out, "Hold up a minute!"

Mal slowed the mule down and the big man hopped out, calling back over his shoulder, "I'll be right back."

He went into a store with a sign that read _Pritchard's Deluxe Emporium: Fine Toiletries and Lady's Sundries_, the valiant attempt at core elegance completely ruined by a spelling mistake. But instead of laughing, it only caused Mal to scowl at Zoë.

"What the hell is he doin' goin' into a store like that?" he asked, then answered his own question. "I wager he's plannin' on gettin' some frippery for Kaylee and leadin' her all astray again."

Zoë turned to face her captain with a look he saw so rarely that he tended to pay close attention when it did appear.

"Sir," she said. That was all she said.

"Uh, yeah, Zoë?"

"Sir, I think you're handling this all wrong. Just leave the man alone for a while. We need him. You saw how that meet just went. Old coot in there near pissed himself when he saw Jayne and nary a bullet fired. I call that smooth. Don't you call that smooth, sir?"

"Yes, Zoë, I surely do call that smooth," Mal sighed, and he jiggled the heavy bag of coins on the seat beside him. "It was pretty funny too, him runnin' away like a scared jackrabbit at the end."

When Jayne came back out, a brown paper package tucked under his arm, Mal and Zoë were smiling and laughing, and the three of them spent the rest of the short trip back to the ship discussing whether they thought the man had made it to the head in time.

* * *

It was Mal's turn to make the supper and he had it all prepared and laid out as everyone filed in to eat. Everyone except Jayne. Not standing on ceremony, they sat down and began serving themselves. Inara was the first to notice.

"Do you smell something?" she asked, her nose wrinkling prettily.

"Now that you mention it, I do," Mal said, turning around to face the doorway to the crew quarters. "Smells a bit like a brothel."

"Or like a florist's shop vomited," observed Wash, pinching his nostrils together and pushing his plate away from himself.

Just then, Jayne emerged from his cabin and walked into the room, taking his place at the table and scooping protein mush onto his plate. It slowly dawned on the rest of the people around the table that the sickly sweet smell was coming from him.

Jayne didn't appear to realize that anything out of the ordinary was happening, and he dug into the food with his usual relish. When Wash opened his mouth to say something sarcastic, Zoë glared at him until he closed it again.

After they had gotten somewhat used to the smell and begun to eat, the conversation around the table picked up as usual, but Jayne didn't participate. He could feel Kaylee's eyes on him through most of it, but he figured if he didn't say anything then neither would she, so he was safe for the moment.

When they had finished eating and cleared up, Mal sat down and spilled the sack of money onto the table, writing down amounts on a piece of paper and dividing it up into six piles. Since Inara was more or less a paying passenger and not part of the crime there was no pile of money for her, but they each got their rightful share with one left over for _Serenity_, and by the end of the little ritual, Mal looked like a proud papa handing out the kids' weekly allowance.

"Mal?" Jayne asked. "How long we stayin' here?"

"Well, we've got that new job to look into. I'd say at least until tomorrow noon depending on how that plays out."

"Do I gotta stay on the ship?" Jayne asked, eyebrows raised. "Only I wanted ta go to the whorehouse and get a bath and a woman and such. That's why I got the soap in that store today. Tried it out just afore supper. Smells nice, doncha think?"

Mal wasn't sure whether he was more amazed by this flow of words from their new hired gun or by the topic that had been raised. All the captain said in reply was, "Just be back before noon in case we're goin'. Me and Zoë can handle the new business."

"Thanks, Mal," Jayne replied, and looked at the floor when the others turned their heads at Kaylee's loud sob.

The mechanic stalked up to him, arms stiff at her sides, hands curled into fists, and screamed out, "I hate you, Jayne Cobb!" before whirling around to run in the direction of the crew quarters.

Jayne kept his face pointed downwards so the others couldn't see the sadness there, and when he looked up again, he was pretty sure they wouldn't be able to tell how much Kaylee's outburst had hurt him and what a strain it was on him to hurt her. He exited the mess to scowls all around, but since he had expected this type of reaction, he barely felt it.

He left the ship carrying his new soap and walked back to the town, easily locating the whorehouse by the loud piano music and shouts and sounds of breaking glass coming from inside. He went in and talked to the madame, arranging a bath of fresh hot water – 2 credits extra for fresh, 3 for hot – and the services of a tall blonde with a sour-looking face, flat chest and bony hips. Since he was trying hard to avoid any of the available women who looked even remotely like Kaylee, he ended up choosing one that was nowhere near his usual tastes. _Oh, well_, he thought as he followed her up the stairs, _I can always use the sleep_.


	8. New Lies

Jayne left the whorehouse a bit early the next morning so he would have time to do a little shopping before going back to _Serenity_. First, he went to a men's outfitters and bought a brand new pair of cargo pants and a couple of pairs of new socks and underwear. The store had a consignment section as well where he selected a couple of almost-new tee shirts, including a light brown one with a Blue Sun logo on the front. The collar and sleeves were torn off, but to Jayne's mind, that just made it cost less. With the money he saved on the tee shirts, he was also able to get a brand new hard-wearing cotton shirt, buttoned, with black and gray stripes, along with a trim black vest to go over it. Just in case he had to go somewhere formal or he needed something to be buried in.

His next stop was at the town's hardware and armory where he picked up an assortment of bullets, gun oil and a new chamois. He also got a new tube of sealant and patch kit for his EV suit, a tin of saddle soap for his boots, two short lengths of heavy chain, and a bit of durable rubber tubing.

Jayne was enjoying his shopping trip so much, he decided on breakfast out and stopped at a wagon in the main square where he bought a bowl of noodles in some kind of meat broth – probably better not to ask what kind of meat – and a steamed bun.

As he sat at the makeshift counter and noisily slurped up his noodles, he spied just the thing he was looking for out of the corner of his eye at a stall on the other side of the square and finished his meal quickly, taking the rest of the bun with him to eat on the way.

When he had gotten back to the ship and dumped his purchases in his cabin, he went in search of the captain.

"Where's Mal?" he asked Kaylee, since she was the first person who crossed his path.

"I ain't talkin' ta you," she replied in a grumpy tone and brushed past him on the way to her cabin.

"Suit yerself," he said, even though he knew she probably couldn't hear him by then.

He went back to the cargo bay and was halfway across the deck when Zoë and Mal walked into the Firefly.

"Didja get the job?" Jayne asked, when the three met at the top of the ramp.

"Mornin' to you too, Jayne," Mal countered. Zoë rolled her eyes and carried on towards the fore stairway to go to the cockpit, leaving the two men alone to start a fight or not as they saw fit.

Mal, remembering Zoë's advice, decided to back down. Just a bit. A very little bit.

"Yes, we got the job. It's a pickup on New Beijing to be delivered to Kronos. Should take about a week for the whole run. Legal cargo, too, though that don't pay as much as the illegal stuff. Somethin' else on your mind?"

"Oh, yeah, Mal. I saw a second-hand set of weights and a bench in town. Wondered if I might get it and set it up in the corner back there. Won't take up too much room and anybody wants kin use it when I'm not."

Jayne waited for Mal's decision while trying to look like he wasn't asking too big a favor. After about a half-minute of silence to let Jayne squirm a bit, Mal gave his verdict.

"Good idea. Can't have you goin' soft when we're in space. Don't expect me to spot you, though. I got enough other things to do on this ship."

Jayne was more than willing to let Mal win this little I'm-the-captain pissing contest, especially since it meant he could have his weights. As Mal was about to turn away, Jayne added, "Kin I borrow the mule ta carry them back in?"

Mal's sense of humor finally got the better of him and the corner of his mouth quirked up as he answered, "Yes, son, you can borrow the car, but have it back here by noon with the tank full."

As Jayne called out a hurried "Thanks, Mal" and went to get in the vehicle, Mal finished with, "And I don't want you takin' no girls over to Passion Point while you're out, neither, _dŏng ma?_!"

* * *

Jayne got a really good deal on the weights and bench by standing a little too close to the man in the stall and using Binky to clean the dirt out from under his fingernails while they were negotiating the price. The transaction now complete, he loaded up the mule, then drove it to a fuel station to top up the tank.

When he got back to _Serenity_ it was almost noon. He parked the mule and went back to the intercom near the inner hatch, punching the button and telling Wash he was on board.

The pilot's voice crackled out from the speaker. "Close 'er up, then, Jayne. Everybody's here," and Jayne pushed the buttons that raised the cargo ramp and closed the pressure doors. Soon after, they were aloft and in space.

Jayne unloaded his newest purchase and set it up in the corner he had indicated to Mal, arranging the weights according to size. With a week in space, it would be a good long stretch to build up his training regimen again. Weights would also make his workouts more fun and more effective, really bulk up his muscles to even more intimidating proportions, and he looked forward to it with relish.

Next, he went back to his cabin and picked up the rubber hose, using Binky to slice it neatly in half, and threaded a piece of chain through each half. All he needed now was a pair of pliers to pull open the chains' links on each end so he could fasten them to hang down from the metal grating on the cargo bay's aft landing near his weight set. It would be the perfect place to do pull-ups, and since Jayne was the only one on the ship tall enough to maybe hit them with his head, they'd be out of the way too.

The only place he could think of to look for a heavy-duty set of pliers was in the engine room, and he set off towards _Serenity's_ tail, chains in hand. When he got there, the room was empty, so he found Kaylee's tool box and selected the proper implement, hurrying back to the cargo bay and fixing the makeshift exercise equipment in place.

As he was on his way back to return the pliers, he ran into Kaylee again, who froze at the sight of the big man. Her face had a horrified look, and it took him a moment to register that her eyes were focused on the purloined pliers in his hand. Seems he'd crossed a line again.

Kaylee narrowed her eyes and came up to him, snatching them out of his hand as she said in a hard, unyielding voice, "You don't ever touch my stuff, Jayne Cobb, and you don't ever touch me," and she turned and ran towards the engine room.

Jayne stood for a moment, his heart somewhere down around his boots. _At least she didn't cry this time_, he thought, and he decided to break in his new gym and give himself some time to think things through again. Oh, well, the day had started out okay, anyways.

* * *

Twenty-three, Twenty-four, twenty-five. No sense doing too much all at once. He'd already worked up a good sweat on the weight bench so the pull-ups were kind of like icing on the cake. Speaking of sweat, he thought maybe he should have a quick shower now that he was among people who might be a little more particular about those kinds of things. Too bad that whore had stolen his pretty soap the night before. Guess she'd had nothing better to do since he'd spent most of his paid-up time sleeping. At least she'd left his purse alone.

When he'd finished showering and put on all fresh clothes from his new purchases, he went to the mess to see what was happening in the way of food. Wash must have already set a course and put the ship on autopilot since he had joined everyone in their meal, and as Jayne sat down, the pilot commented, "Hey, Jayne, if you had a shower, how come it doesn't smell like a lady's boudoir in here?"

Wash only giggled at his own joke until Zoë jabbed him in the ribs with her elbow, at which point he looked at her like a guilty gradeschooler.

Jayne didn't take the bait. As he reached for the pot of potatoes, he casually said, "Gave that there cake o' soap to the whore last night. She was extra-special nice ta me."

The silence around the table was sudden and lasted for quite a long time, broken only by the sound of Jayne's plopping mashed potatoes and fresh vegetables onto his plate and spearing a large hunk of grilled meat to add to the pile.

It wasn't easy for Jayne to keep his eyes on his plate and play out that he was unconcerned about the frosty atmosphere in the room, what with everybody's eyes on him. Except, he supposed, for Kaylee's. He had to do it, though. He had to force Kaylee away from him for now, and the only way he could figure to do that was by being mean and nasty and brutish, let them all think he'd been messing around with her earlier and didn't care one way or the other.

He'd done some rough calculations before his workout, writing sums on a scrap of paper, and if the upcoming jobs were as good as the one he'd just been paid for, it wouldn't be long before he could reveal his true feelings to Kaylee, and by that time, Mal and the rest of them would have had a chance to get to know him better and wouldn't be standing in their way. They'd know that all he wanted was to look after Kaylee and treat her like the queen she was, maybe give her a couple of little ones to run around under his feet in his old age. He hoped she'd understand why he'd had to do it this way, why he'd had to make her think he didn't care. And since he'd gone too far now to take it back, all he could do at this point was hope. And pray.

* * *

_dŏng ma?_ – understand?


	9. New Situation

Jayne's prayers usually took the form of one-sided conversations with his ma. He wasn't so comfortable talking to the big guy. Maybe it was because he wasn't too sure God would give him the time of day, what with all the killing and thieving and so on he'd done in his lifetime. Jayne had heard the idea was that in the end it worked out as long as he believed, but he'd also heard about other philosophies, Karma and such, and the one where you came back as a bitty bug or a rock until you got it right. Jayne figured if his life were put in a balance, well, the things he'd done would be heavy enough for a pretty quick one-way trip to hell. So he talked to his ma instead.

"You'd like her, ma," he whispered, sitting in his cabin. "She's soft and pretty but strong too. And smart. She wouldn't let me get away with no ruttin' _jìmóu_, neither. I'm thinkin' you'd like that part best of all, ma."

As he talked, Jayne whittled on a box he was making from some scrap pieces of wood he'd found in the cargo bay. He had all the pieces carved out – bottom, sides, lid – with neat dovetail joins to fit it all together. The next time they hit dirt, he was going to look for some hinges and a lock and key to finish it. He could maybe even get some proper furniture oil to give it a shine and make the wood look fancier than it really was.

He made it big enough to hold all the money he was going to need and a little bit of extra room besides, and after pushing the joins together to form the container, he carefully placed the substantial pile of money he had left over from the first job with his new crew in the bottom, laying beside it Kaylee's card and the heart-shaped chocolate. Then, placing the lid on top, he put it in a good hiding place he had found earlier. It'd be safe enough there until he could get it finished.

Jayne had wrapped the chocolate up in a thin piece of plastic just in case it melted. He figured he'd always know it had been a heart even if it did eventually turn into a messy blob, and he cleaned away the wood chips and sawdust from his table, satisfied with his work.

Maybe not long from now he could carve something up as a gift for Kaylee, his own love token. He imagined her face when he gave it to her, whatever the object turned out to be, as it made her smile for him again. Jayne decided he could make it through this if he just remembered what it felt like to have Kaylee smile only for him.

* * *

When they got to New Beijing, the cargo was only half of what Mal had been told on Laredo, and the captain scuffed his boot into the dirt in his anger. They took the job at the reduced rate that was offered and set out for Kronos.

* * *

Jayne was able to finish his wooden box as he told his ma some more about Kaylee. "You know what she did today, ma?" he asked rhetorically. "She fixed some whatsits or other on that engine o' hers in no time flat. Knew what it was right away, too. And when she was done, she had grease on her face. Had to put my hands in my pockets so's I wouldn't reach out to wipe it away. She sure has got me by the short ones, ma. I know that'd make you laugh an' all. Told you and Matty enough times that no woman was gonna tame me. Guess she's gone and done it, though."

Kaylee didn't seem as mad as before and wasn't inclined to leave a room when Jayne came in. In a way, this hurt him more than when she had glared at him and flounced out because it meant that maybe she didn't care as much about him anymore.

And there was a change in Zoë as well. Although she didn't run him down unless he said something really stupid, she didn't discourage Wash from taking as many jabs as he wanted, and the little man was becoming downright annoying. First of all, Jayne didn't always understand what the pilot was saying about him, and second of all, he wasn't quick-witted enough to make any kind of comeback, so he was at the man's mercy, suffering the smirks and laughter of the rest of the crew in silence. And of course when Kaylee laughed along with them, well, it took the fight right out of him.

As _Serenity_ bounced around from planet to planet doing small jobs and looking for more work, Jayne fell into a routine that closed him off more and more. He concentrated so hard on the financial end of his plan that soon he just appeared greedy and grasping to the rest of the crew. The good news was Kaylee had really lightened up on him now and tended to treat him more like a big brother, laughing with him instead of at him and giving him hard punches on the arm when he'd said something lewd to intentionally provoke that dazzling smile.

It wasn't the kind of smile he'd been planning on, one full of love and lust and plans for the future, but it was still a smile, and Jayne teased her whenever he thought he could get away with it without letting anyone know that he still carried a torch for the little mechanic. Out of necessity, his torch didn't burn so brightly now but the flame was steady, and they passed the next few months in this way until the worried look on Mal's face disturbed the easy peace of the ship.

"We ain't gettin' enough good jobs. Hell, we ain't even gettin' enough bad jobs," he announced one evening at a planning meeting around the mess table.

"Well, what're we gonna do, then?" Jayne asked, suddenly worried too.

"Ain't much we can do," Zoë chimed in. "Just look harder, maybe."

"I hear tell Badger's got somethin' goin' on. Maybe when we let Inara off at Persephone we can check in and see what's what," said Mal.

"Don't like that little piece o' turd," Jayne observed. "Don't trust 'im."

"Nobody trusts Badger, Jayne," Zoë said, turning her solemn face towards the mercenary, "but if what the captain says is right, then we don't have much choice. I say we do it, sir, especially since we're goin' that way in any case."

"Done," Mal declared decisively. "Be ready early and we'll all go and see what the short man in the bowler hat has to offer."

* * *

Next morning, when they got back to the ship, they had the co-ordinates of a derelict transport rumored to be carrying a rich cargo floating out in space. All they needed to do was find it, liberate the goods, and bring them back to Persephone where they could pick up a full purse, pick up Inara, and be on their merry.

Only problem was, by the time they got to the transport, the Alliance had also heard the rumors. It was very close, but Wash managed to get them and the abandoned cargo out of there lickety-split and back to Persephone where Inara joined them just as they were setting down at Eavesdown Docks.

Mal had decided earlier that they would take on passengers since they were next headed to Boros, which, because of a heavy Alliance presence, was likely to be a more popular destination than a lot of the other planets and moons transport ships of dubious legality often frequented, and when Mal and Zoë and Jayne got back from their meet with Badger – who had refused the goods since they were tagged and could have been traced to him due to the cortex alert on a Firefly that had been spotted in the vicinity – they found that Kaylee had taken up three parties: a preacher and two other travelers, one of whom was a young doctor.

Jayne didn't like the look of the boy straight off. He was obviously one of those snooty core types, wearing clean, expensive clothes and with an air that said he was used to having servants do everything for him. Oh, well, Inara would be able to talk to him, anyway, maybe even take out some trade during the trip.

That evening at supper, though, Jayne couldn't help but notice that Kaylee was curious about the young dandy. She kept going on about how he was a doctor and such, and Jayne, momentarily forgetting his plan, opened his mouth for a smart remark, earning a stern rebuke from the captain and being sent to his cabin as if he were an unruly child. His temper was up again when he realized what was happening, but in the end, he just scooped up some more potatoes and left, wondering what they were all going to say behind his back.

Jayne was entirely unprepared for what happened next. None of them was prepared, in fact.

He was in the lounge outside the infirmary, just hanging around, probably because Kaylee was there too setting up the checkers board for a match with Inara. She and Jayne had been shyly conversing at the time, Jayne couldn't remember about what now, but it was the first time since their initial bust-up either of them had risked really talking to the other, and as far as Jayne could tell, Kaylee wasn't minding at all.

They could hear some kind of an argument in the cargo bay. As the raised voices became louder, first Kaylee then Jayne went to the doorway to see what was happening. A gunshot rang out and Jayne got there just in time to see the large hole in Kaylee's abdomen, blood starting to pour out as she gazed with disbelieving eyes at Mal, Simon – who was the doctor – and Dobson, the third passenger, who turned out to be a fed and the man who had just shot his lovely little girl.

Jayne was more than ready to kill the ruttin' _húndàn_ on the spot.

* * *

_jìmóu_ – trick (deceit)

_húndàn_ - bastard


	10. Same Old Crap Luck

Jayne chewed at a hangnail and hugged his knee, rocking back and forth a bit as he crouched down and watched through the infirmary window from the upper catwalk. He was talking directly to God this time.

"Please let her live, God," he chanted over and over in his head. "C'ain't promise I won't do nothin' else bad, 'cuz that would just be a lie and you know it. And if you won't do it fer me, do it fer all these other good people who love her mebbe just as much as I do in their own way."

When Mal told him and Zoë and Wash later in the cockpit how he had pulled the doctor's leg about Kaylee being dead and that instead she really was going to be all right, that the doc, Simon, had saved her, Jayne wiped tears of laughter from his eyes that were also tears of relief and gratitude.

By that time, the doc's loopy sister had been unboxed, giving them all something new to think about, and Reavers had snuck up on them but passed them by, so when they landed at Whitefall and negotiated a fair price with Patience, the leader of that moon, for the federal nutrition bars – well, if a person's idea of negotiating consisted of trading bullets along with goods and money – everybody was pretty much ready for all the excitement to end. But wishing doesn't make it so, and the next thing he knew, Jayne was riding a horse hell bent for leather along with Mal and Zoë back from the meet to the ship with Wash's voice still ringing in his ears, "The Reavers, they followed us!"

It didn't seem like anything out of the ordinary for the past couple of days that they should find Dobson loose and holding River with a gun to her head in the cargo bay shouting demands, nor that Mal should dispatch the fed with one quick bullet to the brain pan. Jayne wished he could have done it himself, but as long as it was done, that was okay too, and he and Mal tossed the lawman's corpse off _Serenity_ as she rose to try and escape the Reavers.

Jayne jumped to it when he got the order to take Kaylee to the engine room, and he tenderly picked her up from the medbed in the infirmary, using the close contact as an excuse to press his cheek to hers when she reached up to put her arms around his neck, and, as gently as he could while still moving quickly, he carried her to the next level and into the engine room, propping her up in the corner.

He wasn't too good at helping with the technical part of the complicated maneuver that Kaylee and Wash executed, but the preacher seemed to know more about engines than Jayne figured preachers usually did, and they not only evaded the Reavers but they blasted their ship out of the sky. Jayne's loud whoops of triumph that rang over the ship's intercom system once again released tension not only about the close call but all his recent fretting over Kaylee, and she smiled up at her ship and at him as he danced around the engine room like some kind of jolly clown.

* * *

From then on, life went back to a type of normal. Other than somehow having taken on three new crew members in the form of the stuck-up doctor, his creepy sister, and a very secretive holy man, they were all back to the way it was before, moving around from planet to moon and back again, taking jobs as they came and looking out for one another. Jayne had even invited Shepherd Book to work out with him, originally with the intention of finding out whether Kaylee had said anything about Jayne when she was sick but eventually because he was good company and could hold his own pretty well in the workouts for an old man. But Jayne found his plan wasn't moving along as fast as it needed to now that Kaylee had turned her attention in Simon's direction.

So when that core-bred pantywaist had come up with an idea for the richest haul any of them was ever likely to see in this lifetime and Jayne had come up with his secret side plan to sell the doctor and his sister out to the feds, it had seemed to Jayne like the only way to go. He would get his cut from the stolen medicine. He would get an obscene amount of money from the feds that he could always say he'd had before he joined the crew. And, most importantly, the doctor would be out of the way and he could get Kaylee back and set the both of them up on some quiet planet where a man didn't have to look to anybody else to provide for and protect his family.

Jayne's plan was perfect. Except it all went south when the ruttin' fed double-crossed him.

So here he was, sitting on the floor of the pressure hatch in the cargo bay, one lump on the right side of his forehead where he had hit it getting Simon and River and himself free of the feds and another one on his left temple where Mal had knocked him out with a wrench. And when Mal had threatened to space him, Jayne almost felt like telling him to go ahead and get on with it, but he still clung to the hope, however small, that something would happen to bring Kaylee to him, and so he discovered that he really didn't want to die just yet.

Jayne knew Mal would keep his word and not tell the rest of them what had really happened on Ariel. Mal was like that. It shamed Jayne to think about it, sitting there with his back up against the wrong side of the pressure doors, but there it was. He decided a few things in the next couple of hours until Mal came and let him into the ship again. He decided to stick with the basics of his plan – save his money and wait for the right time to court Kaylee again – but this time he was going to do things a bit differently. He was going to try to work together with the rest of the crew instead of against them and remember, as Mal had said, that people like them, people who depended on one another, didn't do things the way Jayne had done them in the past.

Feeling as peaceful and proud of himself as he ever had since he was a young man, Jayne rejoined the rest of them for supper, laughing and sharing their joy over the close escape and stupendously profitable haul from Ariel, and he even blushed a bit and looked down at his plate when Kaylee insisted on having Simon re-tell how he had courageously knocked down and killed the fed guard with his hands cuffed behind his back.

* * *

So now there was Wash and the preacher lying in the ground. Jayne was going to really miss them both, especially the preacher, who had become a real friend to him. And there was Kaylee and Simon, finally together as what looked like a real couple after dancing one around the other for months and months. And here was Jayne, alone but not alone, because, after all they had been through together, he thought he finally understood what Zoë had been saying to him on that day so long ago when she spoke about the small crew being family. And though he finally had the money to leave and set up his own enterprise, maybe even find himself a willing woman to wed and get those young ones after all, he found he didn't want to leave, that Kaylee was still the one he wanted, only not at the expense of her happiness with Simon.

After all was said and done, because of that family thing, he discovered there wasn't any other particular place in the 'verse he wanted to be except where _Serenity_ was and with Mal, Inara, Zoë, Simon, Kaylee, and River, who had gotten sane again after the broadcast went out about how the Reavers had accidentally been created by the Alliance.

_Hmmm_, Jayne thought to himself suddenly, _River.._.


End file.
